Making Mexican Refried Beans From Scratch

Nothing goes better with Mexican food than refried beans on the side. It is true, at one time in my life, I only knew the kind you get in the can.

One can not beat the taste of making the pinto beans and doing homemade refried beans yourself. Get the how-to and tips on freezing pinto beans below.

In 1981, I married Edward Venegas, the eldest of thirteen from Echo Park in Los Angeles via Guadalajara, Mexico. Some time after, I made my first pot and there was plenty of know how from Cuca, Ed's mother.

Why eat the legume? Read a brief about that at the end of this article.

Legumes Are A New World Export

The other half of the world did not have beans until the Spanish brought them back to Europe from Peru. Pinto means "painted" in reference to the light brown splotches on the pinto.

When cooked the pinto turns a light pink brown. The cooking water is slightly thick, flavorful, and a deep taupe hue.

Cook Time

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 3 hours

Ready in: 3 hours 5 min

Yields: A huge pot

Ingredients

5 Cups Pinto Beans, Sorted and Cleaned

Step One: How to Cook Pintos

Take a little less than five cups of dried beans and sort through them to clear out stones and debris. Broken ones do not matter. Rinse in a sieve till clean.

No need to soak but allow at least three hours stove time.

Use a large pan with a lid. Choose the heaviest pan you own; however, anything will work. Cover beans with two inches of water. Have about two more inches of pan left for expanding.

My cooking pot is stainless steel and a 6 qt. pot makes plenty for freezing. This household is always disappointed if there are no home cooked pintos in the freezer for Mexican dishes, soups or salads.

Step Two: Set Pan on Burner to Start Cooking

Fire it up with medium heat. A slow start will cause less breakage for salads, and other whole bean dishes. It may take 45 minutes or more to get a low boil going. Check the pot and adjust the heat for a steady simmer.

Now you check occasionally to add hot water and give it a very gentle stir with a wooden spoon. Don't forget because at this stage legumes will absorb the water and the pot will need replenishing of water.

In less than an hour you will have a house full of fresh pinto bean aroma. They will be tender between 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hrs after the first hot simmer. Test for desired tenderness.

Done. Turn off the fire.

Step Three: Mash

Now for the mashing.

The cooked beans will have a slightly thick sauce that you will use when mashing. Mash with lots of liquid. You should have a hot pudding texture or thick tomato sauce. The finished texture should stick to a tortilla, but still be moist. Skins are left and give fiber for a healthy diet.

Recently, my husband and I were thinking the refried beans needed new flavor. More old fashioned flavor is added with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of lard. That practice is not vegetarian, but variations can make them wholly vegan. Fry the lard, or your favorite oil, for half a minute and add the pintos.

My family of four are light eaters so about four ladles and the liquid go into the fry pan. This is the time to add the salt and a touch of garlic or onion powder. Lower heat and mash with a potato masher. Add more beans, salt or liquid to adjust consistency and taste.

Buying Dried Pintos

The standard grocery market like Ralph's, Vons etc. have bulk pinto beans in produce and packaged in the aisle section usually near the rice. A Latino swap meet near nearby is a good source.

Any legume will store well for up to a year in an airtight container.

Freeze The Beans for Later

A big pot of beans means you have enough to store for later. Using for thirty-three years, the square round Tupperware containers to freeze has saved me money, They fill to just the right amount for a family meal. A pot will fill four or five containers to put in the freezer. Save some of the thick liquid in each container.

Making your own beans will cut your salt over the years and save money too.

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What Does the Pinto Bean Contain?

The pinto bean or any related bean like navy, kidney and black beans are excellent sources of fiber and folate. Fiber is essential for good digestive health, and it is known to help the cardiovascular system. The protein and sugars in beans are slow burning to help stabilize blood sugar levels to avoid spikes in energy.

There is zero cholesterol in dried and canned pinto beans. Avoid canned if you want some control over your salt intake.

Dried cooked beans have zero fat.

All choices of legumes are also good sources of potassium, magnesium, vitamin B1, iron and tryptophan, an essential amino acid.

Beans are one of those foods like fruits and vegetables that we should add to our diets to optimize our health and well being.

Do You Like Mexican Rice and Beans?

Let me know if this has convinced you to cook your own refried beans. Of course, the vegetarian can be assured that their beans are just what they want when cooked at home.

Questions & Answers

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sending

Liz Elias

20 months agofrom Oakley, CA

I'm glad I found this set of instructions. I tried to make my own one time, and what a mess I had. Beans splattered all over the stove, and in the end, they were dry, pasty and all but flavorless. Yuck!

I do like refried beans, and Mexican food in general, but I am a vegetarian, so no lard for me. I like them with some body, though; I don't care for them to be on the soupy side, so they will spread over a tortilla without dripping.

EmergencyPrepar

6 years ago

I just started cooking my own beans a couple of months ago and we LOVE them. I have not found a recipe for Mexican rice yet that I really like. I've tried several but maybe I don't like rice that much? I'll keep experimenting.

justDawn1

6 years ago

I love beans &amp; rice &amp; also refried beans &amp; black beans! Thanks so much for the help...I've been to embarrassed to ask friends! :) I'm bookmarking this lens!

cheech1981

7 years ago

i love pinto beans, and it seems like everyone is always picking black beans over pinto when i'm in the burrito line at mexican post express...but the nutritional value is comparable...i'm a fan. :) nice mexican recetas thanks!

anonymous

7 years ago

I love refried beans when I go to a Mexican restaurant but have never made them myself. Yes, I sure do like rice and bean, they are yummy good! Once when I was at a Mexican restaurant I could taste that the beans were burnt, others at my table thought they were okay. The waitress told the manager, he came to the table and asked if the beans had a chocolaty taste initially, guess they're supposed to have that and mine didn't. He left to go check them and came back to say I was right, they were burned and there was no chocolaty taste and brought me rice as a substitute side dish. I've always wondered if they just served all those beans anyway.

Frischy

7 years agofrom Kentucky, USA

Terrifico! My daughter loves refried beans and I always wondered how I could make them at home. This is very helpful information, and especially since they can be frozen too. I never thought of that before. This is excellent! Thank you!

anonymous

8 years ago

Fry up a bit of lard, that sound like it would work very nicely. I love refried beans with my tacos or any other Mexican dish I make, thank for the recipe.

anonymous

8 years ago

My father made homemade pinto beans all the time and we ate them with buttery cornbread and a fresh salad. Heaven on earth!

Joycevoice

8 years ago

I am excited to make my own refried beans. It looks like the health benefits are great. Thank you for taking me through the process step by step.

ICanCook

8 years ago

I really love refried beans and I wasn't sure how to make it. I buy the canned ones and I like that ok, but can you imagine how much better I will like it when I make it myself? Thanks a bunch.

anonymous

9 years ago

This is one of my favorite foods, and I could eat it every day (if my wife would let me). We used to grow our own pinto beans, dry them and winnow them, then refry them. Aside from a little pebble we'd miss now and then, they were great! The ones we get in a can nowadays aren't the same as homegrown and homemade, but they're still one of my favorite things to add to a meal.

enslavedbyfaeries

10 years ago

I'll bet these are delicious! We eat refried beans a lot at our house and I should give the homemade version a try to stretch our grocery budget.

Terrie Marcoe

10 years agofrom Gardiner, New York and Joshua Tree, California

I had no idea refried beans were so simple to make. I can't wait to make some and stock up the freezer. I like to tear up tortillas, fry them sort of crisp, and then layer over refried beans(and grated cheese, cubed tomatoes, onions and avacado). yummmm....

dc64 lm

10 years ago

I grew up in Alabama mostly, and never had Mexican food at all. Then I joined the Army and married a fellow who had a Puerto Rican father and Mexican mother. Wow! My mother-in-law blew me away with all the traditional foods. Rice and refried beans are now a family favorite, (even though I'm divorced now)but I don't have the time to cook the pinto beans from scratch. I cheat and buy the canned kind, but add all the stuff myself. Another favorite is Boracho Beans.Yummy!

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